Adjust Administrative Distance for Route Selection

in Cisco IOS Routers Configuration Example

Document ID: 113153

Contents
Introduction
Prerequisites
Requirements
Components Used
Conventions
Configure
Network Diagram
Configurations
Verify
On Router R2
Related Information
Introduction
This document describes how to change the administrative distance value of the routing protocol in order to
influence the route selection in Cisco routers.

Administrative distance is the feature that routers use in order to select the best path when there are two or
more different routes to the same destination from two different routing protocols. Administrative distance
defines the reliability of a routing protocol. The smaller the administrative distance value, the more reliable
the protocol.

Note: When you change the default distances, it can lead to routing loops in the network. Change the
administrative distance with caution and only after you have thought through what you want to achieve.

Prerequisites
Requirements
There are no specific prerequisites for this document.

Components Used
The configurations in this document is based on the Cisco 3700 series router on Cisco IOS Software Release
12.4 (15)T 13.

Conventions
Refer to Cisco Technical Tips Conventions for more information on document conventions.
Configure
In this section, you are presented with the information to configure the features described in this document.

Note: Use the Command Lookup Tool (registered customers only) to find more information on the commands
used in this document.

Network Diagram
Here the router R1 and R2 are connected via parallel serial lines. The routers R1 and R2 are configured with
BGP and OSPF. The default administrative distance of OSPF is 110 while that of the eBGP is 20. With the
command distance, we changed the AD value of BGP to 190. Prior to this command, the router R2 preferred
the BGP routes over OSPF since they had the default AD values configured. After the AD value of the BGP
changed, the OSPF routes takes the precedence.

Configurations
This document uses these configuration

• Router R1 Configuration
• Router R2 Configuration

R1 Configuration
interface Loopback0
ip address 1.1.1.1 255.255.255.255
!
!
interface Loopback10
ip address 10.10.10.10 255.255.255.255
!
!
interface Loopback20
ip address 20.20.20.20 255.255.255.255
!
!
interface Loopback30
ip address 30.30.30.30 255.255.255.255
!
!
interface Serial1/0
ip address 100.100.100.1 255.255.255.0
serial restart−delay 0
clock rate 64000
!
!
interface Serial1/1
ip address 192.168.12.1 255.255.255.0
serial restart−delay 0
clock rate 64000
 !
!
router ospf 10
router−id 1.1.1.1
log−adjacency−changes
network 1.1.1.1 0.0.0.0 area 0
network 10.10.10.10 0.0.0.0 area 0
network 20.20.20.20 0.0.0.0 area 0
network 100.100.100.1 0.0.0.0 area 0
!
router bgp 123
no synchronization
bgp router−id 1.1.1.1
bgp log−neighbor−changes
network 10.10.10.10 mask 255.255.255.255
network 20.20.20.20 mask 255.255.255.255
network 30.30.30.30 mask 255.255.255.255
neighbor 2.2.2.2 remote−as 100
neighbor 2.2.2.2 ebgp−multihop 5
neighbor 2.2.2.2 update−source Loopback0
no auto−summary
!

R2 Configuration
interface Loopback0
ip address 2.2.2.2 255.255.255.255
!
!
interface Serial1/0
ip address 100.100.100.2 255.255.255.0
serial restart−delay 0
clock rate 64000
!
!
interface Serial1/1
ip address 192.168.12.2 255.255.255.0
serial restart−delay 0
clock rate 64000
!

!
router ospf 10
router−id 2.2.2.2
log−adjacency−changes
network 2.2.2.2 0.0.0.0 area 0
network 100.100.100.2 0.0.0.0 area 0
!
router bgp 100
no synchronization
bgp router−id 2.2.2.2
bgp log−neighbor−changes
neighbor 1.1.1.1 remote−as 123
neighbor 1.1.1.1 ebgp−multihop 5
neighbor 1.1.1.1 update−source Loopback0
distance 190 1.1.1.1 0.0.0.0

Changed the AD value of BGP as 190!

no auto−summary
!
Verify
Use the commands described in this section in order to verify the configuration .

The Output Interpreter Tool (registered customers only) (OIT) supports certain show commands. Use the OIT
to view an analysis of show command output.

On Router R2
When the distance command is not applied on Router R2

Show ip route
Codes: L − local, C − connected, S − static, R − RIP, M − mobile, B − BGP
D − EIGRP, EX − EIGRP external, O − OSPF, IA − OSPF inter area
N1 − OSPF NSSA external type 1, N2 − OSPF NSSA external type 2
E1 − OSPF external type 1, E2 − OSPF external type 2
I − IS−IS, su − IS−IS summary, L1 − IS−IS level−1, L2 − IS−IS level−2
ia − IS−IS inter area, * − candidate default, U − per−user static route
o − ODR, P − periodic downloaded static route, + − replicated route

Gateway of last resort is not set

1.0.0.0/32 is subnetted, 1 subnets

O 1.1.1.1 [110/65] via 100.100.100.1, 00:00:03, Serial1/0
2.0.0.0/32 is subnetted, 1 subnets
C 2.2.2.2 is directly connected, Loopback0
10.0.0.0/32 is subnetted, 1 subnets
B 10.10.10.10 [20/0] via 1.1.1.1, 00:00:03

BGP Router Preffered Over OSPF

20.0.0.0/32 is subnetted, 1 subnets

B 20.20.20.20 [20/0] via 1.1.1.1, 00:00:03

BGP Router Preffered Over OSPF

30.0.0.0/32 is subnetted, 1 subnets

B 30.30.30.30 [20/0] via 1.1.1.1, 00:00:03
100.0.0.0/8 is variably subnetted, 2 subnets, 2 masks
C 100.100.100.0/24 is directly connected, Serial1/0
L 100.100.100.2/32 is directly connected, Serial1/0
192.168.12.0/24 is variably subnetted, 2 subnets, 2 masks
C 192.168.12.0/24 is directly connected, Serial1/1
L 192.168.12.2/32 is directly connected, Serial1/1

When the distance command is applied on Router R2

Show ip route
R2#sh ip route
Codes: L − local, C − connected, S − static, R − RIP, M − mobile, B − BGP
D − EIGRP, EX − EIGRP external, O − OSPF, IA − OSPF inter area
N1 − OSPF NSSA external type 1, N2 − OSPF NSSA external type 2
E1 − OSPF external type 1, E2 − OSPF external type 2
I − IS−IS, su − IS−IS summary, L1 − IS−IS level−1, L2 − IS−IS level−2
ia − IS−IS inter area, * − candidate default, U − per−user static route
o − ODR, P − periodic downloaded static route, + − replicated route

Gateway of last resort is not set

1.0.0.0/32 is subnetted, 1 subnets

O 1.1.1.1 [110/65] via 100.100.100.1, 00:00:03, Serial1/0
2.0.0.0/32 is subnetted, 1 subnets
C 2.2.2.2 is directly connected, Loopback0
10.0.0.0/32 is subnetted, 1 subnets
O 10.10.10.10 [110/65] via 100.100.100.1, 00:00:03, Serial1/0

By increasing the AD of External BGP, OSPF takes precedence

20.0.0.0/32 is subnetted, 1 subnets

O 20.20.20.20 [110/65] via 100.100.100.1, 00:00:03, Serial1/0

By increasing the AD of External BGP, OSPF takes precedence

30.0.0.0/32 is subnetted, 1 subnets

B 30.30.30.30 [190/0] via 1.1.1.1, 00:00:03
100.0.0.0/8 is variably subnetted, 2 subnets, 2 masks
C 100.100.100.0/24 is directly connected, Serial1/0
L 100.100.100.2/32 is directly connected, Serial1/0
192.168.12.0/24 is variably subnetted, 2 subnets, 2 masks
C 192.168.12.0/24 is directly connected, Serial1/1
L 192.168.12.2/32 is directly connected, Serial1/1

Related Information
• Route Selection in Cisco Routers
• OSPF Support Page
• BGP Support Page
• Technical Support & Documentation − Cisco Systems

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Updated: Jul 26, 2011 Document ID: 113153